Romeo's Death
by B Cardoso
Summary: “It’s been so long, but still he can’t let it go. He sees the days passing by, the hours ticking away and he breathes, he lives – there is nothing else to do.” RoryJess Oneshot


Title: Romeo's Death

Author: Bru Cardoso

Summary: "It's been so long, but still he can't let it go. He sses the days passing by, the hours ticking away and he breathes, he lives – there is nothing else to do." RoryJess One-shot

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters, just the plot... you know the drill.

A/N: Just something that came to me last night while I was watching the end of _"Romeo and Juliet" _and wouldn't let me sleep until I finally wrote it. I don't have a beta and English isn't my mother tongue, so I'm sorry for all the English mistakes. I also have never written this kind of thing, so it'd be nice to know what you think about it.

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**Romeo's Death**

He wakes up to a new day feeling the same numbness of always. His eyes open and he feels the chill of a fall morning. Time isn't something he counts anymore; it's pointless. So he only notices how much time passed by through the season and holidays. He sits on bed, looking at the woman lying at his side – her perfect dark curled hair adorning the pale China doll naked skin. She is a common beauty with a pretty smile and shiny blue eyes. Everytime he sees her he wonders if he deserves a woman so full of grace.

He dangles his legs to the side of the bed, barely touching the cold hardwood floor. He feels nothing. His eyes close at the single revelationg. He feels nothing; nothing for the woman lying at his side, nothing for anyone at all. The only time he feels something – a tingle between sorrow, nostalgy, happiness and sadness – is when he sees her smile. The smile that adorns the face of that tiny girl that is always running around the apartment, hiding behind the couch and reading under the covers. She is seven now, his little girl. Her small curls fall from her head and make her big blue eyes spark even more, like they were the only source of light in the world. He sniffes the air, standing up and smiles a little smelling coffee. She reminds him so much of _her_. More than she should. Even when she was still a baby, he could swear that somehow she smelled of coffee. They were so alike, even in small details, that he felt compelled to name his little girl after _her_ favorite book – Anna.

He isn't in the mood to eat. He actually never is in the mood for anything for a long time now. It's been so long, but still he can't let it go. He sees the days passing by, the hours ticking away and he breathes, he lives – there is nothing else to do. He puts a pair of nice black pants and a white shirt on. He hates to dress up nicely for work but has grown accustomed to it. He opens his suitcase and drops a tie inside – he hates them – the only piece of clothing he still refuses to wear even to work. Except when he goes to the court, of course. No one ever saw this coming, him being a lawyer. But he had done it and all on his own. It was a part of growing up, you had to do somehting to make money. And then you had to work really hard to make more and more money; especially when your girlfriend gets pregnant and you have to provide for a family – your family. Now there were responsabilities and people depending on him. He couldn't give himself the luxury of doing whatever he wanted, he couldn't even give himslef the luxury of dying.

Sometimes it scared him. He hasn't reached his 30th birthday but he has already forgotten most of his passions – reading, music, commiting little delinquent acts just to stir things up (and even if he wanted to, he couldn't anymore. Now he was a family man). Some other passions he hasn't forgotten – _her_. Even if his feelings for her have faded away as time goes by, they could never vanish from inside him. And when he thinks he is starting to forget about her, there is always Anna's smile just in the next room to remind him.

He puts his black shoes on and takes his suit jacket with one hand and the suitcase with the other, heading to the kitchen. Anna is already there, sitting on the couch, eating a pop tart and watching a cartoon.

"Daddy, you're up!" She exclaims excited.

"Yes, sweetie," he nods with a sad smile, while pouring himself some coffee.

She gets up from the couch and goes to him, tugging at his black pants, "What's wrong daddy? You don't look fine," she tells him with a puzzled expression, pouting all the while with her big puppy eyes.

He can't resist it. He takes her in his arms and spins her around, letting her body fly like a lifeless doll. She giggles excited. She is the opposite of him, she is so full of life. He puts her back on the ground and smiles – just because – before kneeling down in front of her and answering her question. "Daddy is sad for something that happened a long time ago. But I'm happy you're here with me, so I'll be okay."

The little girl also smiles, proud she's the reason of his supposed happiness and hugs him. He is speechless for a moment, too surprised to do anything. Then he hugs her back. Tight. Letting her know how important she is to him – she is the only thing that matters now.

He gets up to put his jacket suit on, he has to head to work soon. "Daddy has to go to work now. I'll see you later, okay?"

Anna nods with enthusiasm and runs back to the couch. He sights and opens the door of his apartment readdy to leave when he hears her squeal, "Mommy!" He turns around and sure enough there she stood.

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye, Jess?" She asks in a less sleepy voice than he expects.

"I didn't want to wake you up", he answers neutral.

She apparently accepts his excuse, even though she knows it to be a lie, and walks to him, giving him a peck on the lips, "Have a nice day at work, Jess."

"Thanks, Tricia", he says politely before turning around and closing the door behind him.

He walks aimlessly, actually knowing where he is headed. The gray sky fits his mood. Today it marks the seventh year since she was gone. When he heard the news he felt his whole world crumble around him– literaly. It all lost its taste, its beauty; nothing made sense. He felt like he was free falling, but he still hasn't reached the ground. He felt his death, and now he was dead.

But he couldn't die. Though his life had ended at that very moment, his girlfriend was six months pregnant and soon he would have a little girl to take care of. He couldn't be selfish enough to do the only thing he could to join her now, he had to be the responsible one for the first time and do what he should. He had to live to be this little girl's father, not just abandon her like his father had done to him.

He finally reached it; his feet knew the path all too well. The soil was wet from yesterday's rain, leaving an earthy scent mixed with a flower-y one all around. It still pained him, even after all these years, to see the big written stone that made it all more real. He dropped the red carnations – her favorite flower, even if he was the only one who knew it – before the gray stone and sighted, reading it yet again. He knew no one thought of him when wrote this last words on her grave, but he couldn't agree more.

"Rory Gilmore

_1985 - 2007_

_Loved daughter and friend_

_We will always miss you"_


End file.
